Like others writing here, I felt a bit cheated that the movie did not focus on the real "true story", which is certainly a better one for an adult audience. Perhaps it would not have had such a general appeal, and would have been less commercial. The notion that it was all a hoax, and yet true at the same time, seemed disingenuous. The story of how grief and loss in the years after the First World War led many to become self-deluded and consequently vulnerable to "psychic" charlatans is a very adult one. Houdini was a hero in the cause of stamping this shoddy business out. He was a champion of reason. I have no problems with films that alter and compress historical events for dramatic reasons, but this film actually negated the essence of the true story and wasted an opportunity. And we were deprived of the delicious final twist, when the surviving girl (by then an old lady) confessed all in the 1980s. The film was an enjoyable fantasy, and could have been presented as being "inspired by, but not based on" actual events (as were Citizen Kane and Personal Services). There is always going to be a problem with films based on true events, and in this case it seemed like a good story trashed.
Review of FairyTale: A True Story
